There’s plenty to be said about sport’s capacity for healing. For all its faults and flaws, its power to unify in times of tragedy is something to cling to. On Saturday evening, at Orlando’s Citrus Bowl, soccer honored those who died in the attack at one of the city’s nightclubs the week before. Emotions are still too raw for recovery to have taken full effect, but there was at least some comfort to be taken from the display of strength prior to and during Orlando City’s game against the San Jose Earthquakes.

The match itself was secondary, pretty much irrelevant. The two sides contested a 2-2 draw, but this was a fixture with a much deeper meaning attached. Particularly poignant, the minute’s silence observed by the crowd of 37,194 in the 49th minute, honouring the 49 who died at the Pulse nightclub, captured how this city still hurts one week after America’s deadliest mass shooting in modern history. How could it not?

Orlando’s players entered the field to the sound of The Beatles’ All You Need Is Love, wearing rainbow wristbands in support of the LGBT community, the target of the attack. San Jose’s players donned black armbands and Orlando United patches. There were rainbow corner flags too, while Brek Shea fashioned his own pair of rainbow-coloured boots. “No more hate,” he scrawled on them along with the #OrlandoUnited slogan adopted as the mantra of a city in pain.

Even after such tributes had passed, the 49 empty seats, marked by a balloon tied to each one, served as a reminder of the evening’s somber tone. When Seb Hines scored Orlando’s opening goal he took his rainbow wristband and waved it to the crowd. “I just wanted to show my support,” he said. “It was more than just a game out there tonight. It was the togetherness of the city and around the world. Everyone is united. I was just putting that out there for everyone to see.”

The rather suitably named Orlando Pride – the city’s NWSL team – also observed a 49-minute moment of contemplation earlier in the day, but it was Orlando City’s tributes that struck the chord of deepest sentiment. “I’m so glad it was a home game this week, to give fans the opportunity to rally around something other than grief,” the city’s mayor Buddy Dyer said. Indeed, this wasn’t just a soccer match. This was a sanctuary for a sorrowed city. If ever there was any doubt, Saturday underlined how Orlando has chosen love over hate. GR

NYC FC’s DPs make history

With the club’s insistence on labeling every conceivable moment in their existence as “historic,” New York City FC fans have embraced the absurdity like a badge of honor, using the term for even the most mundane happenings. Rain on a Sunday? Historic. Chicken buckets sold in the bleacher section? Historic. Mehdi Ballouchy scores? You get the idea.

New York City FC desperately needed a win against the Philadelphia Union, particularly after being ousted from the US Open Cup by the New York Cosmos. Looking for a savior, NYC FC’s Designated Players answered the call – and made club history.

For the first time ever, Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa didn’t just start a match – they all scored as wel in a 3-2 victory. There were no boos for Lampard – especially after scoring the first goal of the match. The Chelsea great put City up just eight minutes into the match, taking a poorly measured Tommy McNamara shot and zipping his shot past Union keeper Andre Blake.

David Villa scored minutes later, putting away an assist from Englishman Jack Harrison, who enjoyed a stellar game of his own. Capping off the scoring in the 50th minute was Andrea Pirlo. Just weeks from his one-year anniversary with the club, the Italian Maestro blasted his first career NYC FC goal with style. A trademark free kick from 25 yards out proved to be the game’s decider.

It took nearly a year for NYC FC’s three-headed monster to have a game like this. Finally, the Millionaire’s Club gave fans a taste of why they make the big bucks. And it couldn’t come at a better time.

“I think everybody was really hurt by how we lost to the Cosmos,” Patrick Vieira said after the match. “It was really important for us to respond as a football club, as a team, to show how good we are and how strong we are. I was looking for the reaction and I had that reaction – it came from Frank, David and Andrea and that’s fantastic.”

Now was the performance perfect? Hardly. Without CJ Sapong and Vincent Noguiera, Philadelphia lost the game-winning identity that has defined the team this year. Yet boneheaded plays like another Frederic Brillant own goal and a Jason Hernandez red card in the 88th minute kept the Union in the match. Still, NYC FC displayed a resolve seldom seen from this club, holding on to a victory (historic) at home (historic) on the back of their three DPs (historic).

Was it ugly? Sure. Lucky? You bet. But Saturday’s win will be one for the club history books. And not in the tongue-in-cheek way, either. DM

Happy Father’s Day, Drew Moor

Drew Moor certainly will not forget his first Father’s Day weekend.

The 32-year-old MLS veteran welcomed his newborn child into the world on 31 May. Nearly three weeks later, young Joseph “Joey” Moor was on hand at BMO Field for the very first time to watch his father and his Toronto FC team-mates take on the LA Galaxy. And daddy gave him quite a show: Moor blasted the game-winning header in Saturday’s 1-0 Toronto win over the visiting Galaxy.

“Father’s Day tomorrow,” said Moor after the match. “I’ve only been a father for about two-and-a-half weeks now, so it will be fun to call my father, let him know how much he means to me and then to hold my little boy for a little bit as well.”

Moor has been an integral player in Toronto’s defensive form. TFC have conceded just 15 goals in 14 matches this season, making them the top defensive unit in the Eastern Conference and the third best defense in the league. That is quite a turnaround for a team that tied for most goals conceded in 2015 (58).

Along with the returning Benoit Cheyrou, Moor has been a key figure in that turnaround, played a nurturing role on the backline for several of Toronto’s younger players this season.

Some would say that makes him a father for Toronto as well.

“Drew is a very stable, consistent performer for us. He is huge for us. Obviously he is very consistent and he helps the guys around him,” said Vanney. “I played with him when he was young and I was the old guy. Now he’s the old guy, and he’s playing with the young guys ... He’s very stable, a good communicator and he helps the others make their jobs a lot clearer.”

The LA Galaxy weren’t exactly in first-team form. Robbie Keane, Giovani Dos Santos and Gyasi Zardes were unavailable due to international duty, forcing Bruce Arena to dip into his bench for his best options. But as Moor says, “this is still the LA Galaxy,” and the win couldn’t come at a better time for Toronto, who snapped a four match winless streak. DM

Meanwhile, in officiating news ...

If you don’t understand why fans of MLS skewer the officiating on a regular basis, look no further than this week’s Sporting KC-FC Dallas encounter.

Just 15 minutes into the match, Sporting defender Lawrence Olum and goalkeeper Tim Melia messed up on a simple backpass. Olum’s distribution went wide of Melia and right towards net, forcing the veteran keeper to give chase, sweep the ball from the goalline and save Sporting from an early blush.

Or did he?

On second look, the ball did cross the line. And it wasn’t even debatable. This was a Brazil-beating, Raul-Ruidiaz-Hand-of-God-sends-Peru-into-the-quarter-finals type missed call that set the tone for an awful day at the office for FC Dallas.

“It impacted the game for sure,” FC Dallas boss Oscar Pareja said after the match. “Today more than ever we want to step away from that. It is frustrating. Everyone saw it and I don’t want to talk about it.”

In fairness to the referees, the blunder happened so quickly that each official was caught out of position. Referee Jorge Gonzalez was already positioned near the center circile and his linesman was caught chasing the play, completely baffled by the entire sequence. FC Dallas players didn’t even protest the no-goal immediately following the play.

In the confusion, Gonzalez signaled for play to go on, and Olum was handed a reprieve. He made good on the opportunity. Following a Benny Feilhaber restart, Olum flicked a header past Melia to put Sporting KC up in the 43rd minute.

Sporting were not done there. Two minutes later, Atiba Harris clipped Feilhaber in the box, gifting Sporting KC a crucial penalty kick. Feilhaber took his own opportunity, beating Melia to put Sporting up by two heading into the second half.

Dallas failed to find goal on the evening, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The traveling Texans managed 13 shots and 58.5% possession on the evening. However, the real story of the night was their lack of composure. Of those 13 shots, only one fell on target. And after 90 minutes, they were still hurting from the one that got away.

“We had the goal in front of us and created the best chances in the first half. I thought we dominated the game, but it wasn’t enough,” Pareja said. “Kansas City put up a lot of numbers in behind. It was difficult to get those three points. We had a few options, but once again, it wasn’t enough.” DM

Jesse Marsch has made a habit of proving his doubters wrong

Players, coaches and footballing figures insist they take little notice of what is written or said about them. Most are somewhat disingenuous about that, though. Most of them will flick through a newspaper from time to time or at least search their name on Twitter every so often. When it comes to Jesse Marsch, however, you get the sense that he truly doesn’t care what critics say, write or think of him.

There’s a casual self-assurance about the Wisconsin native that exudes steadfast confidence in what he does. And yet Marsch has faced doubters at almost every turn of his still fledgling managerial career. He faced them when he was first appointed New York Red Bulls head coach, with his arrival set against the backdrop of supporters’ protests over the dismissal of his predecessor, Mike Petke. Marsch soon quelled that unrest by leading the team to the Supporters’ Shield.

Even after such success, the start of this season provided a critical juncture in Marsch’s Red Bulls career. With only one win to show for their opening seven fixtures crisis was called, albeit prematurely as six wins were collected from their next eight games, culminating in Sunday’s comprehensive 2-0 win over the Seattle Sounders.

That win marked the first since Marsch signed a new two-year contract extension, a watershed for the 42-year-old. The franchise has placed its unwavering faith in Marsch, as have the club’s fans and those who not so long ago questioned his hiring in the first place. This is now undoubtedly his club and he has started to forge it to his own personality.

As a reflection of their head coach’s own demeanour, there has been an assurance about the Red Bulls’ last two MLS performances. Bradley Wright-Phillips’ hat-trick and the 3-0 win over Toronto FC might have been more emphatic, but the fussless nature of their win against Seattle on Sunday said even more about how comfortable the Red Bulls are in what they’re doing right now.

The Sounders enjoyed plenty of possession in Harrison, even creating a number of chances in front of goal, but even still, the Red Bulls never looked in any real danger from the moment Mike Grella scored their opener 18 minutes in. Perhaps that is the greatest correlation between team and head coach - that even in times of trouble, self-assurance finds a way to shine through. GR